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Test your basic knowledge |
Trivia: Musical Terms
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Study First
Subject
:
trivia
Instructions:
Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
If you are not ready to take this test, you can
study here
.
Match each statement with the correct term.
Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.
This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Arranging a piece of music for an orchestra. Also - the study of music.
Orchestration
Time Signature
Leading note
Fugue
2. A single line of music played or sung. A musical sentence.
Register
Klangfarbenmelodie
Phrase
Slur
3. The voice between soprano and alto. Also - in sheet music - a direction for the tempo to be played at medium speed.
Mezzo
Opera
Grave
Polytonality
4. A short piano piece - often improvisational and intimate in character.
Verismo
Musette
Reed
Impromptu
5. A musical composition written solely to improve technique. Often performed for artistic interest.
Etude
Dissonance
Sonata form
Septet
6. 3 or 4 notes played simultaneously in harmony.
Encore
Timbre
Instrumentation
Chord
7. The principal note of a triad.
Hymn
Tone less
Root
Suite
8. A string of chords played in succession.
Virtuoso
Chord progression
Chant
Ligature
9. Combination of two or more keys being played at the same time.
Polytonality
Glee
Concerto
Dynamics
10. A composition written for eight instruments.
Grandioso
Intermezzo
Octet
Dynamics
11. A set of five musicians who perform a composition written for five parts.
Quintet
Verismo
Oratorio
Key signature
12. Combining a number of individual but harmonizing melodies. Also known as counterpoint.
Baroque
Polyphony
Modulation
Cadenza
13. A line in a contrapuntal work performed by an individual voice or instrument.
Part
Accelerando
Legato
Klangfarbenmelodie
14. The opening section of a piece of music or movement.
Introduction
Phrase
Nocturne
Drone
15. Music that is easy to listen to and understand.
Leading note
Glissando
Accessible
Da Capo
16. Originally an improvised cadence by a soloist. Later it became a written out passage to display performance skills of an instrumentalist or performer.
Slide
Orchestration
Instrumentation
Cadenza
17. The technique of altering the tone color of a single note or musical line by changing from one instrument to another in the middle of a note or line.
Modes
Klangfarbenmelodie
Piano
Key signature
18. One of the two modes of the tonal system. The minor mode can be identified by the dark - melancholic mood.
Measure
Overture
Etude
Minor
19. A dirge - hymn - or musical service for the repose of the dead.
Grazioso
Classical
Introduction
Requiem
20. Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played gracefully.
Baroque
Musicology
Grazioso
Cadence
21. A short or brief sonata.
Sonatina
Choir
Falsetto
Phrase
22. Initially an improvised cadence by a soloist; later becoming an elaborate and written out passage in an aria or concerto - featuring the skills of an instrumentalist or vocalist.
Chorus
Cadenza
Interval
Voice
23. The intonation - pitch - and modulation of a composition expressing the meaning - feeling - or attitude of the music.
Madrigal
Tone
Reed
Hymn
24. A form of Italian opera beginning at the end of the 19th century. The setting is contemporary to the composer's own time - and the characters are modeled after every day life.
Consonance
Voice
Symphony
Verismo
25. The unit of musical rhythm.
Requiem
Sequence
Conductor
Beat
26. Music that is written and performed without regard to any specific key.
Interval
Pizzicato
Atonal
A cappella
27. Suite of Baroque dances.
Intermezzo
Duet
Partita
Treble
28. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.
Cadenza
Falsetto
Intonation
Finale
29. A separate section of a larger composition.
Whole-tone scale
Movement
Counterpoint
Cantabile
30. Three notes played in the same amount of time as one or two beats.
Encore
Development
Atonal
Triplet
31. The frequency of a note determining how high or low it sounds.
Key
Pitch
Piano
Ensemble
32. A lighthearted piece - written in several movements - usually as background music for a social function.
Allegro
Recitative
Serenade
Slur
33. Either of the two octave arrangements in modern music. The modes are either major or minor.
Sextet
Modes
Tritone
Concerto
34. One who directs a group of performers. The conductor indicates the tempo - phrasing - dynamics - and style by gestures and facial expressions.
Accelerando
Tessitura
Chorus
Conductor
35. A composition written for eight instruments.
Presto
Neoclassical
Octet
Symphony
36. A whole note is equal to 2 half notes - 4 quarter notes - 8 eighth notes - etc.
Whole-tone scale
Tremolo
Espressivo
Whole note
37. Ability to determine the pitch of a note as it relates to the notes that precede and follow it.
Presto
Relative pitch
Sonata
Capriccio
38. Movement in music where the characteristics are crisp and direct.
Quartet
Monotone
Chord progression
Neoclassical
39. A composition based on previous work. A common technique used in Medieval and Renaissance music.
Unison
Parody
Measure
Octet
40. Short detached notes - as opposed to legato.
Staccato
Song cycle
Ostinato
Consonance
41. A system of notation for stringed instruments. The notes are indicated by the finger positions.
Twelve-tone music
Flat
Tablature
Beat
42. Pertaining to the sonata form - a fast movement in triple time.
Piano
Register
Tessitura
Scherzo
43. A numeric symbol in sheet music determining the number of beats to a measure.
Time Signature
Chamber music
String Quartet
Triple time
44. Elaborate polyphonic composition of the Boroque and Renaissance periods.
Timbre
Quintet
Ricercar
Leading note
45. The first tone of a scale also known as a keynote.
Root
Renaissance
Tonic
Pizzicato
46. Successive notes of a key or mode either ascending or descending.
Forte
Gavotte
Ligature
Scale
47. Rapid alternation between notes that are a half tone or whole tone apart.
Unison
Minuet
Trill
Whole note
48. Pleasing combination of two or three tones played together in the background while a melody is being played. Harmony also refers to the study of chord progressions.
Pitch
Triple time
Reprise
Harmony
49. Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played smoothly.
Mezzo
Ligature
Tonal
Legato
50. A sequence of chords that brings an end to a phrase - either in the middle or the end of a composition.
Tone less
Quintet
Cadence
Phrase